Name: Creamy Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon Olive Oil; 2 tablespoons Vegan Butter; 3/4 cup Sweet Onion (minced); 3-4 Large Garlic Cloves (minced); 1 cup Dry Orzo; 2 cups Vegetable Broth; 1 cup Canned Coconut Milk; 1/2 cup Vegan Parmesan; Salt & Black Pepper (to taste); Fresh Parsley (for garnish)

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Creamy, flavorful, and delicious Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo! It’s the perfect side dish to serve along side some crispy breaded chicken-style seitan or tofu and steamed or roasted vegetables. It comes together fast and in one pot! Enjoy.

Bowl of Creamy Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo paired with crispy vegan chicken and parsley.

This is the most delicious Creamy Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo you’ll ever have. I have to admit, I’m boring with my side dishes. I go for a steamed or roasted vegetable, plain rice, and my main dish. It’s pretty repetitive and not very creative. This year I have promised myself that I’m going to get more creative with my side dishes. I’ll be sure to share when I come across another one as delicious as this Creamy Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo. I hope you enjoy!

What You Will Need For This Creamy Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo

Kitchen Essentials:

This is a very quick side dish to make and super easy clean up which is why I love it so much. All you need is a pot with a lid!

Main Ingredients:

Orzo
Garlic
Vegetable Broth
Canned Coconut Milk
Vegan Parmesan

What I Used:

Vegan Parmesan: I always always always use Violife. But follow your heart has a good vegan parmesan as well.
Canned Coconut Milk: You’ll need a good quality full fat coconut milk. Don’t use light.
Vegetable Broth: I use the better than bouillon vegetable base but any vegetable broth will do. Just note that some are saltier than others and that’s why I leave the salt up to you.
Fresh Minced Garlic: Always use fresh garlic! It has the most flavor and tastes so much better than the pre-minced garlic and garlic powder is great but this dish needs freshly minced garlic. Trust me!

Is Orzo Pasta or Rice?

Orzo is rice shaped pasta. It will be found with the pasta at the grocery store and not with the rice. It tastes exactly like pasta but when prepared in this recipe it’s similar to a risotto dish but takes way less time.

How do I serve this?

I served my Creamy Vegan Garlic Parmesan Orzo with crispy vegan chicken. I used chicken-style seitan and used the breading from my Vegan Chicken & Waffle recipe. In that recipe I used Gardein Chicken Scallopini which will also work well as the main part of this dish. You could also use that same breading recipe for tofu. Just be sure to press the tofu so it crisps up.

How To Make The Best Orzo Side Dish

Be sure to cook the onion until it’s very soft and starting to brown. You could even go the extra mile and start to caramelize it a bit. This will bring in a lot of flavor.

Use fresh minced garlic! Fresh minced garlic is more flavorful than jarred. I highly recommend taking the extra few minutes to mince up a few garlic cloves.

Don’t skip the coconut milk! It needs to be the canned full fat coconut milk. This is what gives the orzo a super creamy texture. The other flavors are more powerful so the coconut isn’t overpowering.

I use the better than bouillon vegetable base but any vegetable broth will do for this recipe. Just note that some are saltier than others and that’s why I leave the salt up to you. Salt to your preference.

More Pasta Recipes You Might Like:

If You Make This Recipe:

Tag me on Instagram! I’d love to see your delicious re-creations and feature them! As always, I would greatly appreciate if you share your review in the comments below. Don’t forget to add if you made any fun substitutions. Thank you!